One thing is to be the one keeping everyone else up with your blubbering because they are worried about you… and because you’re loud. Another is being the one kept up because your baby brother is crying his heart out, thanks to a bigot alpha who had taken away the person said baby brother was meant to be with.

From my bedroom, as I laid in bed staring at the ceiling, Cody was sobbing since the day Alpha Hannibal took Nikko. Mom’s been in the room with my brother the past couple of nights. She was trying to ease him but all it seemed to do was to make Cody hurt more.

He was hurting in a way so very familiar to me. My heart went out to him. He was only fourteen. Cody shouldn’t be crying all night. My brother shouldn’t be going through this at such a young age. It wasn’t fair to him. And to make it worse, there was this situation with the alphas having made a deal between one another to settle the matter of the Quail Wolf. A stupid solution, really.

I looked over at my door where Cody’s wails were muffled but still carried throughout the house. I could hear my parents still trying to calm Cody down but nothing seemed to be working. Frustrated at being unable to help him, I squeezed my eyes shut, turning back to the ceiling.

When the knock on my door snapped my eyes open, I turned again, now looking at my sister open the door to poke her head in.

She’d been spending a lot of time with Sawyer ever since recognizing one another, and I was happy for her. I felt bad when my parents told her what happened with Cody, and Cece immediately switched off her honey-moon phase. She offered to do anything to help as did Sawyer, surprisingly.

I had assumed Sawyer wasn’t the type of man who understood the lifestyle we accepted here in Carmel. But thankfully, after seeing for himself how tormented my little brother was when Cece tried to ease him and her efforts were pointless, Sawyer apologized to my parents on behalf of his alpha. He mentioned to us that same night—while mom was upstairs cuddling with her baby—that Alpha Hannibal had always been homophobic. That not even his wife, Marie, could change the way he thought.

“He’s not going to take too kindly to finding out his son is the same as yours.” Sawyer made a point of saying. “I wouldn’t be surprised if my alpha made an example out of Nikko when we return.”

My dad sighed, running a hand through his hair while the rest of us sat at the table, looking upward at the ceiling as Cody’s wails drifted from upstairs.

I sat up, watching Cece come sit on my bed. She crossed her legs, her brows pinched together as she stared at the space between us. Her lips formed a tight line and she winced every few minutes because of our brother.

“He’s not let up yet…” Cece whispered, glancing at the door.

I nodded, sighing, “It’s an hour more than last night. I think he’s going to keep going until he tires himself out again.”

Cece let out a frustrated growl, shaking her red head and scoffed, “How dare that man treat both his son and Cody that way! How can he take away one mate from another?! Doesn’t he know that goes against our way of living?!”

My shoulder shrugged, murmuring that when I told dad the same thing, he sighed that unfortunately, Nikko was Alpha Hannibal’s son. And there was nothing that they could do about it.

“He’s not of age yet, Gigi,” Dad told me. “Alpha Hannibal still has guardianship over his son for another four years.”

Stupid Were laws.

My sister looked at me, muttering how Wade was getting impatient. Apparently, our older brother has been trying to convince Dad to stand up to the alpha about everything.

“He said that the deal they made about selling you was the last straw for him. Wade’s very angry, Gigi.” Cece pouted, “I’m scared he’s going to do something rash!”

I sighed, sulking out loud that I kind of felt the same way too. My brother had a short temper; both him and I inherited it from our dad. So it was a given Wade was going to get angry about attacks on his siblings.

Cece placed her hand on mine. I stared at it before looking at her. She tilted her head, whispering when asking how I was feeling about what we were told that day about me.

I honestly hadn’t been thinking about it since I was so worried about Cody. Picturing the hurt in my brother’s eyes; seeing him cry so much instead of bouncing around the house as he normally would, kickstarted a fire within me.

I had a responsibility to protect my family as I had promised when I was younger. And I wasn’t doing shit! I was letting that damn alpha hurt my brother! There was no way I was going to go with them. They were all crazy if the alphas truly thought that I’d just up and go because they told me to.

My dad was a fighter. He raised them, too. I was the Quail Wolf, that alone should have pushed me to stand up more to Alpha Hannibal. But I knew doing so would only expose who I was, and God knows what they’d do to me… but more my family.

“Argh! This is all just so damn frustrating!” I shouted, kicking off my sheets and began pacing my room. I ran my fingers through my hair and muttered small curses and about how I was just letting things fall apart when they were supposed to be getting better!

Cece shook her head, frowning as she watched me pace. “You couldn’t have known about the deal, Gigi.”

“No…” I raised a brow, glancing at her in between pacing. “But I knew about Cody and Nikko. I could have done something about that!”

“What, like make them run away together? Gigi, that’s suicide for them.”

“Yeah, but they’d be happy,” I argued.

My sister scowled, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

“Not if they get caught! Both our alpha and Nikko’s father would send out a search party and they would kill Cody, Gigi. Do you honestly want that on your head if you help them run away? Getting our brother killed out there?! He’s fourteen!”

“I know that!” I shouted, glaring at her while my wolf’s true eye color showed through. “But what else am I supposed to do?! Go along with their treaty plan and marry Nikko?! We’re backed up into a corner here, Cece! I can’t do anything without exposing who I am! And I can’t expose myself anyway because I don’t know what will happen! I don’t know what I’m capable of!”

Cece grew quiet, looking away from my blazing narrowed gaze.

I sighed, tipping my head back to stare up at the ceiling. Cody’s cries still lingered, echoing down from the hall. My wolf side paced in agitation. She was unhappy with hearing such sorrow around her. It angered her. I growled, curling my fists at my sides and whipped around. Cece called my name when I swung open my bedroom door and stomped down the hall to my little brother’s room.

Dad turned from the doorway to me, and I stood beside him. He offered a solemn look and I peeres into the room with dimmed lighting. Cody sobbed against Mom who was holding him to her on his bed.

I tilted my head, my heart and wolf calming at the sight of my younger brother so I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Glancing up at Mom, she spared me a glance in return and then whispered to Cody that I was here to see him.

I placed my hand on his socked foot, making him lift his head and momentarily stop his wailing. He sniffled, his hazel eyes puffy from the hours of non stop crying. Extending my hand out for his, he took it, and I pulled him up to look at me. I wiped away his tears, and studied his face.

Cody hiccuped. My hands took hold of his face; caressing my thumb against his cheek.

With a small frown, I leaned closer to his face. “I want you to stop this crying, Cody. I know you’re hurting… but I hear you cry, and it makes me think you have lost all hope for you and Nikko. And that’s not true.”

Cody closed his eyes, tears falling again. “But—but it is!”

“No. It’s not!” I snapped.

His eyes widened at my tone.

I softened it when I sighed, “We are going to figure something out, Cody. And no matter what, I know you and Nikko will be together. Because right here—” I placed my hand on my chest and offered a small smile. “I feel it. The wolf side of me is certain you will pull through this.”

“How… how do you know? You’re supposed to marry him!”

I frowned, looking between us then up at him.

“He’s only seventeen, Cody. A marriage wouldn’t be allowed until he’s of age… but I would never do that to you. Because when you love someone, Cody, you’ll do everything in your power to protect them. To make sure they are happy. And I love you so much, little brother. I’m not going to let Alpha Hannibal take Nikko from you. There’s just gotta be a way out of this.”

I brushed back Cody’s hair, wiping at his cheeks again from fresh tears. I sighed, “But running away is out of the question. They will only hunt you both down and the consequences are fatal.”

Cody frowned, clearly he’d been thinking running was an option. I brushed my hand over his soft hair again before leaning over to kiss his forehead.

“Now…” I smiled a bit, sitting back and held his hands in mine. Scrunching my nose, I leaned towards his like I did when he was much younger.

Cody sniffled though he didn’t pull away from my affection.

I nodded. “I want you to get some sleep now. You need it. I know it’ll take a while—trust me—but I’m going to be right here all night. I won’t leave you for a second.”

“Not even to pee?”

I grinned, his hazel eyes filling with mirth for a moment. A glimpse of my little brother.

“Not even to pee,” I agreed with a chuckle. “I’ll just wet the bed like you did up until you were ten.”

Cody’s eyes widened a second and then he sneered, shaking his head and grumbled under his breath that that was supposed to be a secret.

I kissed his head again, patting the mattress and telling him to get under the covers. I tucked him in, glancing at Mom who grinned at me from where she waited on the other side of the bed. I stood up, walking around the bed to her side to take her place by my brother.

Mom touched my shoulder, making me halt a moment so Mom would give me a soft smile. She mentioned I would make a wonderful mom one day.

My lips curled up into a smile, shaking my head before bidding her good night. I climbed into bed beside my brother, pulling the covers over us more. My parents closed the door after giving me a small nod and I nodded back.

I felt my brother scoot closer to me. He rested his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes and whispered, “Gigi…?”

“Yes, Cody?”

“When you love someone… it’s unconditionally, right?”

“Right.”

“And—and that means that no matter the circumstances they’d fight for you? Because that’s how you prove they are worth fighting for?”

I smiled, combing his hair back with my fingers. “Yeah, bud. That’s what it means when you love someone unconditionally.”

“And nothing can stop you from loving that person…?”

“Nothing.”

Cody fell silent for a moment. He took in a deep breath and let it out slow.

I felt his warm breath on my skin. It was maybe some five or so minutes and I thought he’d drifted off but as I was closing my eyes, Cody broke the silence.

“Why did you really reject Ridge?” It was asked so softly.

My eyes opened, frowning down at his head and he felt this because he tilted his head up to look me in the eyes. Cody sat up a little on his elbow when I still hadn’t answered and asked again.

“Why’d you reject him?”

My little brother’s curiosity mixed with his hurt he was going through and I just stared at him. I really wasn’t expecting him to ask me anything, especially not that.

I managed to gather myself a bit, swallowing as I frowned, “Because—because he’s going to be a dad to someone’s child, Cody. I didn’t want to come between that.”

Cody tilted his head, confusion masking his face. His brows pinched deeply. “But he doesn’t love her. He told you so. He loves you. So why would you not let Ridge have the chance to give you that unconditional love you talked about so much?”

I frowned, shaking my head that it was different for Ridge and I.

“He rejected me to be with someone else he loved, Cody. I rejected him to make sure he would not have a distraction from raising that baby like he is supposed to. He says he loves me but… But I know he will fall in love the moment he meets that baby. I want for that child to grow up with as much love as Ridge can give them.”

Cody stared at me, his brows twitching into a furrow. His mouth pursed to the side, picking at the bed sheet. His hazels rose a bit to mine. “Do you still love him?”

My lips parted, turning my head away as I frowned at nothing in particular. I didn’t want to answer because I wasn’t sure I should.

Cody raised a hand and gently got hold of my chin, turning me to face him again. He raised his brows and asked again, “Do you still love him, Gigi?”

I inhaled, holding it for as long as I could and then sighed, shutting my eyes with a small nod, “I always will, Cody. I’ll never stop.”

Cody said nothing after that. He just nodded and laid back down. He scooted closer to tuck his head under my chin. I shifted slightly to get comfortable and kissed his head again.

My brother whispered, “I think you should take it back. Take Ridge back, I mean. Maybe it’ll keep you from going dark if you have someone to love.”

His head turned a bit, not lifting from where he was laying. His hazels meeting mine before I turned to look up at his ceiling.

I tried to reason, “I do have someone to love, Cody. I have you… and Cece… and Wade… Mom and Dad, Eden… Nikko… And Sawyer.”

Cody shook his head slowly, sleep slowly claiming him when he let out a soft sigh.

“Sometimes that love isn’t enough, Gigi. Sometimes…” he yawned, snuggling closer to me. “Sometimes I believe that—that a ‘true romantic kind of love’ can make you stronger. But only if you let it. If you focus on the weakness it gives you…” Cody yawned once more. “Then you’re going against fate. And fate has a reason for everything, doesn’t it?”

My brother shut his eyes, brows furrowed a bit as he was still trying to fight his sleep. “Even if it means you need that true love to bring you back.”

I frowned, glancing down at his hair. “Bring me back? From where?”

A light snored reply told me he was out.

I brushed back his hair, covering him up a bit more before laying back to stare up at the ceiling again. Instead of falling asleep like I had hoped, I ended up staying awake the rest of the night and just kept repeating Cody’s words in my brain, trying to make sense of it all while thinking of how to keep Nikko and my little brother together.

I was in for a long night.